They look like the Chinese fried dough (also known as Yau Char Kway or you-tiao) except that they are NOT!
They are made of puffed pastry and cheddar cheese and are baked instead of deep-fried.
I made a batch of this a few weeks ago with my 5 y.o. hovering around.
Easy peasy recipe. Big on taste.
Great for nibbles. In fact, so good that my 5 y.o. ate 5 strips at one go.
To prepare 20 twists,
Ingredients:
butter for greasing
85g to 100g grated Cheddar or Gruyere cheese
375g ready-rolled puff pastry, defrosted if frozen (according to packet instructions)
1 egg, beaten
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 200 deg cel. Grease a large baking sheet.
2. Sprinkle grated cheese over sheet of puff pastry. Fold the pastry in half and roll out a little to seal the edges.
3. Cut the pastry into long 1 cm (or 2 cm if you prefer 'fatter' strips), then cut each strip in half and gently twist. Place on greased baking sheet.
4. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 12 min or until crisp and golden. Cool on wire rack.
Viola!!
8 comments:
hihi, the cheesy twist looks interesting. Can you kindly share the recipe? Thanks!
Hihi,
i've been reading our blog eversince YP publicised it. Am very impressed, inspired and definitely encouraged by your homeschooling commitment!I'm a SAHM with a 21mth old boy and a 2mth old baby boy.I intend to homeschool at least Preschool period.One area that i'm very interested in is how to entice my toddler to eat his meals!I wonder where do you get the time and energy to prepare such beautiful edible and creative bento creations!??sorry to add non relevant stuffs here, but i also would love to hear how did you manage your 2 boys when they were younger like my stage now..My toddler's attention span's very short. So occupying him with his toys alone aren't sufficient.Thank you for your insightful sharing.Looking forward to follow your threads. : )
Hi Angelia
Thanks for your feedback.
When I used to make bentos, it was mainly once a week during midweek when my older boy had to have lunch in school. I planned the bento look, ingredients etc.. then just make time on the day itself. My advice - start small. Do something manageable first.
The age gap between my kids is 25 mths. Yours is more challenging, though with some hardwork and routine, I think you can still achieve a lot. :)
I am big on planning and I am a huge multi-tasker too. When my #2 was just an infant, I tried to spend time with my #1 if he was at home or get housework done. I don't do housework at fixed times of the day, except for meals preparation. I just worked around my kids' schedules and make use of every 10-30 min I have.
It helps to multi-task. An example of what I often do concurrently:
1. Prepare and cook a big pot of stock (some to freeze for future use)
2. Load washing machine and set cycle
3. Load dishwasher (yes I have this which is life-saver)
4. Prepare and cook a stir-fried Chinese style dinner (some to freeze for future use)
5. Make a list of grocery items (as I work around my pantry/kitchen during meals preparation, I make my list)
6. Bake some cakes or muffins etc.. in my oven
So I get all the above done within an hour or 1.5 hour time. :)
Hope this helps!
Angelia, forgot to add...
I do not have a helper, so I do the housework too. But if you do have help, then I suppose the housework won't be an issue.
If it is just managing your kids in terms of the 'homeschooling' and learning bit, there is just no shortcut to increasing a toddler's attention span, though some methods are more effective than others.
I used to read and talk to my older boy a lot when I was feeding, holding, burping my baby. Or just sit with both and have a chat. When I played with my baby, I tried to involve the older too. There is plenty to teach just by doing this, especially with your kids' age gap. :)
Hi Shirley,
Thks for taking the time to share your experience with me.I do a lot of planning as well and prepare my ingredients the night before so that i need only to cook them for meals.Also do all that you've mentioned without the baking though, ha. I do have a part time domestic helper who comes once a wk. But am working towards managing the house chores eventually myself when i'm more confident.
You mentioned you'd spend time with no.1 when he's at home, so he'd be at school or somewhere?
My no.1 will be with me 24/7 in 2 mths time.(now he goes to his aunt's on mons daytime.)This is to help us transit into the new routine. I find myself trying to spend most of the time with him even while nursing my small one, i'd try playing with him. It results in shortchanging my baby's time. I like yr idea of involving no.1 when i play with baby. Perhaps i should start teaching him how to play gently with baby..he's rather rough.Nontheless, as you've said, there's no short cut. All these will add on with daily efforts. : )
I am also a firm believer of not exposing my babies to the box. However, when i get desperate for time, i'd succumb to letting him watch half hr of tv while i cook...
I became more resolute after reading your practice on tv viewing.I noticed lately that after i decided not to let him watch any tv he somehow bugged me lesser (He'd whine and point to the tv constantly). And interestingly, his attention span in playing with his stuffs became better!
As for freezing food in batches, i'm not comfortable with the idea..but have resorted to this since it really saves time!
So much for now.Thks agn!
Hi Angelia, my #1 started going to a 3-hour Montessori school when he was 32 mths old. I had wanted to wait till he turned 3, but I gave in when I saw how he was playing with the same cars all day long by himself on most days. His concentration span was excellent for that age already, so he could easily play by himself for an hr or two at a go. I decided it would do him great to go mingle with other adults and kids for a few hrs daily. In his absence, I could also concentrate on my baby who was about 6-7 mths old.
If you find it tough to handle both in a few months' time, then you may want to consider sending your #1 to a 2-hr or 3-hr playgroup, especially in those places that offer twice/thrice a week. For me, it was a breeze when my #2 was under 6 months. After that, he was awake more and I need to make time for him.
Another idea - take both kids outdoors. I used to put my #2 in a pram and walk my #1 all over the place. Older boy got lots of exercise and outdoor exploration and baby got his stimulation! :)
YES YES YES on the lesser-TV or No-TV practice! Kids' behaviour can be changed!
As for freezing food, actually most Asians are not comfortable with the idea, but if we handle our food storage process properly, frozen/thawed food is often more nutritious than food prepared the night before and reheated the next day (leftovers). Sometimes cooking fresh dishes at every meal is simply not feasible for some small families, hence they do takeaways instead which is MILES worse than freshly and nutritiously prepared homecooked food that was flash frozen.
Hihi,
Thks agn!To be frank, finance is another factor so i'd rather homeschool as the 2-3x option's not cheaper than the all day ones and i don't want to put him daily in school.
And i've also been putting baby in a sling and would bring #1 out to the playgrounds daily since after confinement. It does help to expend his energy. : )
Thanks for the interesting information on freezing of food. That eliminates much guilt!ha.But question: How long can the food last in the freezer?A month?
you're really a very consistent blogger, answering my questions so promptly. : ) Am very appreciative of your thoughtful responses!
Angelia, if you have a deep freezer which is rarely opened, it is recommended that meat be stored for up to 3 months and non-meat food for up to 6 months. But I don't keep them that long since most of us do not have deep freezers at home. I use up all my meat dishes like curries, stews, homemade pasta sauces, stocks and lasagnas etc.. within 2 weeks. All non-meat stuff within a month.
In fact, many food can freeze really well. Best is to thaw in fridge overnight and use it within 24 hrs from time the food left the freezer. With some planning, you can serve all home-cooked meals that you have full control over in terms of ingredients and preparation and still do a dozen of other stuff! :>
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